Episode 14 Celebrity MasterChef

It's the Celebrity MasterChef semi-finals

and these six cooks have proved themselves to be the best of the bunch.

I'd love to think I could go further.

I've done well, but it gets tougher.

I have loved it and I have hated it, so when it does go right

it's a nice feeling!

I'd like to go a bit further because I think I'm as good a cook

as the people who are still in.

Tonight the competition moves up another notch as our cooks face their most demanding challenge yet.

- I've another one with a hole in it! - I'm doing my best!

Move your tushy-tush. We're trying not to panic.

Then just one outstanding dish will stand between them and a place in the next round.

One of you is leaving the competition.

The six celebrities have travelled to Cambridge,

home to one of the world's most famous universities, where they will face their next test.

Welcome to the beautiful and historic Gonville and Caius College.

It has produced 12 Nobel Prize winners. It also has a reputation for producing fine food.

Tonight there is a special end-of-term dinner for the students, parents and some of the Fellows.

You are going to cook for 150 people.

Three courses, so we'll split you into teams.

The starter tonight is going to be done by Les and Shane.

Main courses, Ade and Speech.

And desserts, Janet and Brian.

You'll have only four hours in which to do it. I wish you all the best of luck. Enjoy.

Off you go.

Oh... Tough gig. I tell you what, they better get it right. They better get it right.

Gonville and Caius is one of the university's oldest colleges.

Over its 650 years, it's produced world-renowned scholars

such as Sir Howard Florey, who co-discovered penicillin,

and Francis Crick, who worked to establish the structure of DNA.

We are fortunate in Gonville and Caius.

We're used to quite a high standard of cooking.

Our Fellows and our guests this evening will be expecting a fine dining experience.

Welcome to Caius' kitchen.

We're very busy. We have four hours. Let's go.

Shane and Les are responsible for the woodpigeon starter. Their first job is to de-bone the pigeons.

Be very careful. There's a lot of tiny bones. They're very sharp. Put your thumb through

and the wishbone comes clean out. I would say both of you, initially, get these going

so this is out of the way and we can concentrate on the salad.

Right, Les, let's crack on.

You should aim to be about one a minute. OK.

I know it seems fast. I grew up doing a bit of hunting with my father. I've gutted an animal or two.

I've done a fair few pheasant and rabbit in my day.

Never went hunting. Not in working-class Liverpool! There was nowhere to go hunting.

As long as every piece of that wishbone is out. We don't want a sharp piece in the mouth.

We're going to have to work very, very quickly, so teamwork, that's what it's all about.

First course at 7.15. I'd start panicking now if I was them.

Speech and Ade are on the main course - roasted lamb rump.

All that?! Ade has to remove the fat membrane on all 150 portions.

This is going to annoy the life out of me. It's absolutely excruciatingly dull.

Come on. I bet it's hit home now, now they've seen the amount of food.

150 lamb rumps? That's tough.

Oh, look at that one.

In one piece! One piece!

I've got to cook the vegetables for the dish. Right now I'm doing the aubergines.

And I've got to do courgettes, tomatoes, sweet peppers as well.

I find chopping vegetables quite therapeutic, so it's all right.

I've usually got a bit of music playing, but hey.

It's got to sit in that ring, so these are way too big. OK.

Janet and Brian are making dessert - a tuile basket filled with passion fruit mousse

served with a raspberry coulis and topped with a sugar basket garnished with a mint leaf.

Does this mean anything? It doesn't mean anything.

I thought it was a secret symbol. No. Not the symbol of the college. No.

Start with the paste for the tuile biscuit.

We've definitely been given the hardest course. By miles!

The dessert is complicated. It's complex, it's fussy.

I've never, ever cooked anything even approximating that.

That represents everything I hate in culinary terms.

- How are you feeling, Brian? - I'm hopeless at desserts.

- I've never done a...tuile? - Tuile. I've eaten one, but I've never cooked one.

The tuile mixture is made by blending together egg whites, butter, flour and icing sugar.

There's the paste.

That's what you need to do. That's what we're trying to achieve.

Want to come and try? All right.

So I put it on the top... And then turn the palette over.

Take it over to the oven.

They will go very quickly. You won't believe how fast it will go.

You have to work really quickly. This is the hardest part. You're getting me anxious!

The tuile must be perfectly cooked or Janet won't be able to form the basket.

OK, bring it over.

Hands round it, on the side. It's hot! That's all right. Ah!

Clasp it. Clasp it?! It's boiling! If it sticks in the mould, put your hand in and pop it out.

Four. OK, we're underway.

Four. That's only 146 to go.

- I think we're being punished by being put in here. - We could be here for some time.

You're a historian. You're not reading a novel. It's a source. What are the key analytical things?

You need to put two sources together to get akin to what happened.

45 minutes into prep and Shane and Les are still boning out the pigeons.

We're about halfway now. On time.

Come off, little bird. Got to start talking to them!

I like Les's style. He's like me - a bit chilled out and thinks about things. That's the right way to go.

You're doing well.

Doing well. You're on time.

Shane, I think, is so calm, so lovely in his attitude to his team-mate.

He's a diamond.

- We're on a roll, Les. Good? - Good!

Do you both understand the dish? I believe so. Just preparing these first.

They go in at the last minute. They come out the oven, they rest, then come off the bone,

sliced and put on top of the salad. But it does mean come service time you've got to be... On it. Yeah.

What is worrying me and playing on their mind is that they can't start cooking until 20 minutes to go.

It'll get red hot at service.

- Coming off the bone'll be mental! - I know!

Speech is still prepping the vegetables to be chargrilled and served with the lamb.

One lot of vegetables down. Now about six more? I don't know.

It's a pile of veg to get prepped. I'm just working through it,

not thinking about how much there is.

I've never been frightened by piles of lamb! I'm not about to start now.

I love it when it comes off in one piece. That's a boon.

You're way behind, Ade, on this lamb. I don't know how to go faster. Is this the first tray? Yeah.

I can't go any faster. Safely.

There's six there. You've got to keep an eye on them.

Elsewhere in the kitchen, there's more cause for concern.

You've got 30 tuiles made - a fifth of the way. We need to speed up now.

Ah! Quick as you can.

Carefully. Don't be afraid of it. It's only a biscuit. There you go. Next one out.

I've zoned out. I'm in tuile world.

Yes, we're in tuile world. We're not doing badly. It'll probably get a little bit stressed

- as time goes on. - There's no point getting stressed.

It's not the UN peace negotiations.

It's just food and we'll remain calm and focused.

Who put this one in? It's got a hole!

- That's probably that horrible guy...um, whatsisname. Brian. - Brian!

We've only got another 100 to do.

I think when you did this tray you were having a little turn.

I'm doing my best! What have you got to do? Mould these, fill them with some fruit mousse stuff

and then stick some cobwebby thing over the top and then make a fashion statement with red blobs!

I can see that. I'm not blind. What have you to do with your workload?

Have you made the mousse? Not yet. The only thing is the tuiles?

Only?! Don't belittle what I've done so far! I'm not belittling it. Just stating a fact.

You couldn't do this any quicker! We've got cages to make, mousse to make, pick off the mint.

Good luck. I've got another one with a hole in it, Brian!

Janet's having a nice time(!)

Ah!

CHOIR SINGS

An hour and a half in and Shane and Les have finished prepping the pigeons.

- We've now to get on with the salad. - A lot of chopping to do.

Once you see this amount of butternut squash, are you suddenly realising the scale?

The scale, and this is probably the toughest vegetable to prepare!

It's a kick to think you might be feeding somebody who goes on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature

and one day they might come and say, "I tasted your woodpigeon salad

"and went on to be the greatest novelist in the world."

If me and Les are late then the whole dinner's late. We don't want that to happen.

So trying to crack on.

I think we're doing OK. Nobody's screamed at us to say we should be further on.

How much more have you got to do?

All of those. Have you started the beetroot yet? No. What?! You haven't started the beetroot yet?

Does one of us need to think about beetroot or both just carry on with this?

Just move your tushy-tush. OK.

Having finished the veg prep, Speech is now chargrilling the aubergines and courgettes

for the vegetable stack. This is taking a long time. It's got to be hot for me.

This is really hot.

It's just all of this area, all round here.

Even when you get your hand near it, it's hot.

Are you still lambing? I still am. Have you done anything else? No, I haven't done anything else.

So how many have you done?

I've done...I think I've done ninety-something. Nearly 100.

So you've been doing that for two hours? It might be on the rare side!

How's Speech getting on? No idea. No idea? I haven't lifted my head.

This is the Ade and Speech method? - Are you cooking everything else? - I'm just doing aubergines.

The aubergines you cut up ages ago? Yes, but I also cut up courgettes and red peppers.

Oh, OK. And started the sauce.

OK. So we're doing all right. Are we? Except there's still potatoes.

Ade, you've still got 30, 40 to do.

I'm going to have to move you on to get the potatoes done or we'll be really well behind.

OK. One of my lads will take over on this.

150 potatoes.

You've come off the lamb? I have. I'm a bit annoyed to have come off the lamb.

I wanted to finish the task, you know? It felt like I had let my lamb down.

Are you going to get this out on time? I literally have no idea.

Speech and Ade aren't the best team. The left hand doesn't really know what the right hand is doing.

We've got to hope it comes together. And I mean hope!

That's it. Get another mould in, Brian.

Janet and Brian have now been making tuile baskets for almost three hours.

How many to go? I dunno. I've lost the plot.

We've still got sugar cages to make, still got mousse to make. A lot of work to do still.

We have an hour and five minutes to service.

Any second I'll have to take one of you off these tuiles and start on the mousse.

I'll start you on the mousse, Brian. Oh, no! I like doing mousse! I'll leave Janet on the tuiles.

What have I done to upset you, Tone? We're just not working fast enough.

Now fold that in carefully.

I am worried.

Time is ticking away.

Into the fridge now.

You've got 15 to go. 15?

How many more do I need to do? Three more trays.

That's it. That's the last one.

I feel like I'm in an operating theatre.

It's 6.30 and the guests are arriving for a pre-dinner drinks reception.

Tonight's quite a special occasion.

Our students have brought their parents. It would be great if it's a special, exciting meal,

something people will be talking about in the weeks and months to come.

I have got high expectations of what the food will be like, yes.

Normally, on formal occasions, the food is of a really high standard, so we'll see tonight.

'I can never remember in this college that dinner was served late'

and I hope it won't happen tonight.

We're 50 minutes away from service. We're going as fast as we can.

Shane and Les are finishing off the salad for the starter, but with service fast approaching

they still have the mammoth task of cooking the 150 portions of pigeon.

We've got a lot to do still.

We're trying not to panic.

Last bit. We've got to get the pigeon in.

They're going to put the lettuce and the beetroot and the pumpkin on the plates to go upstairs.

Then the roast pigeon goes up as well and is finished up top.

So that's 33. Do that five times.

Shane, start doing the pigeon. Leave Les on the salad.

You need to seal it off, six minutes in the oven.

We really need to move now.

There's a few birds in here. I'm used to a few birds, you know?

I think this is 35 here. So it's not even a third of the way through.

We're up against it.

Right to the bottom. The bottom. No, no, no, on the things. Go on. On the things.

They sit. One - only 149 to go.

Two! 148.

Three! 147.

I've got to pour it. Now that service is about to begin,

Brian has to get the chocolate decorations ready for dessert.

While Janet's under pressure to make 150 sugar cages.

Ah! Don't worry, don't worry. That could be all right. No, no good.

Why? Don't break it! No good.

No good. Try again.

Tone? How do you get it off?

How did you do it?

I can't do this! It's too impossible.

Can I swap?

- It took time to get the hang of it. - Brian won't swap.

I've been to art school. I've studied architecture. This is what I do.

I don't want to do the sugar. I've got no sugar aptitude.

I'm so wanting to take over, but I've decided to be his handmaiden!

Because anything rather than do the sugar!

It's not an option. We have to have sugar baskets. It's on the menu and has to be ready.

READS LATIN

Shane... Yes. Push it. We've got to go. I can't, chef.

- Amen. - ALL: Amen.

Is that the last pigeon? Yes. These have got to go in.

- On top of them? - Top.

- OK. - Go and help Les on the salads. We'll start preparing the pigeon.

At an event this big, the real challenge for the celebrities is not just the cooking,

but plating up 150 identical dishes.

So that's 99. How's it going over there?

Pigeon's in.

Right, there we go. Let's go.

They're behind, but they're not that far behind. Bring them in in 10 minutes. We're carving pigeon.

Shane, how long before you start taking them off the bone? Just having a look now.

They're a little bit under. A little bit under.

Right, put them in this oven. What's happened?

The pigeon is still a bit under. How much longer? Five minutes.

We're over 100 now.

100 plates surveyed.

The starter is now due to go out.

Whoa!

But Les is still plating up the salads and Shane is still carving the pigeon breasts.

Ready? No.

Around 10 minutes. 10 minutes? Just give me 10 minutes.

I've delayed dinner 10 minutes. It's the first time we've been late.

Under pressure now.

Les, as soon as these are done, get them into the lift.

Close the door.

Guys, we're going to have to delay the dinner 15 minutes because you're way behind. Let's go!

Five minutes. OK. Five minutes from now?

Go up and start serving. Go, Shane.

Shane, this way. Let's go.

Give extra wine if you have to.

All the dishes must now be finished with the pigeon and the dressing.

One of you will put the pigeon on, one will dress the salad. OK?

OK, let's go.

- Not over the top of... - Oh.

We're moving.

Shane and Les's starter is warm breast of woodpigeon served on a salad

of butternut squash, beetroot and a walnut oil dressing.

Delicious. Beautifully served.

The woodpigeon was very tender, a little bit pink for me.

The woodpigeon was lovely - very tender, very soft. Generally very tasty.

Round this way.

You all right, Shane? Yes, sir! More exciting than dancing on a stage! I've never moved so much!

Where's me stool when I need it?

I don't know who done your choreography for this, mate, but it's bang on.

One right-handed, one left-handed, Les. Er... One in each hand, like a gunslinger.

Go, Les! Go on, son!

Go on!

The woodpigeon was very, very nice.

We're rocking now. That looks absolutely lovely. Good going, lads.

I enjoyed my pigeon so much, I stole the remaining pigeon from my neighbour's plate. Delicious.

That pigeon is flying out!

Hey, mate. Give us a hug.

Good job, mate. Good job.

I think this starter was easily up to the standards of what we normally have here.

Woodpigeon was nice, the flavour was really good, seasoning was good.

I'm looking forward to the main course. The lamb looks delicious.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's my happy job to welcome the parents who are here this evening.

You might get the idea that all we do here is eat splendid meals in a noble hall.

But you have to think of us during the day, students and dons alike,

dispersed in our specialised departments, and it's dinner that brings the whole community together.

Now it's up to Speech to cook the lamb.

You need to really speed up now.

While Ade finishes the vegetable stacks.

You need to really fly now. Aubergines, courgettes, tomatoes.

What's five minutes when you're in the company of good friends? They'll be having intellectual discussions,

one of which will lead to a Nobel Prize.

There's a whole lot of lamb in here.

Looks great, guys. You're blessed - the starters were late and somebody wants to say a speech.

When you visit Gonville and Caius on an occasion like this

or on that splendid occasion when your sons and daughters graduate...

10 minutes for the main course! Are we serving the food? Yeah!

- Speech will be here and you will be here. - Oh, I see.

But plating the main is more demanding than the starter

as it has five different elements.

You ready to go?

The roast rump of lamb, a chargrilled vegetable stack topped with spinach,

a roast potato and a red wine sauce.

Looking really good! All that hard work. Great food.

I'd be happy if I was out there.

I've never seen lamb move so fast! Come on!

I thought the lamb was delicious. I really enjoyed it.

The flavour combination worked well. Very enjoyable.

Those plates are hot, aren't they? Ow!

Almost there, almost there. Well done.

- What happened then?! - I don't know. I kind of blacked out. It just happened.

The lamb was phenomenal.

I think they've done very well.

I'm really looking forward to dessert. It's going to be a nice end to a lovely meal.

Janet, Brian, the mains have gone.

So we're looking at 20 minutes now.

Start on the coulis now. Take one off, finish it, back on.

10, 12, 14, 16, 18. Guys, you're doing really well. They're looking really nice.

34, 35, 36. 150 tuile baskets, 150 sugar baskets,

a mousse. All the words Janet would never usually use in her vocabulary unless it was swearing at me.

And very unlikely to reappear in my vocabulary again.

82, 84, 86, 88...

I'm struggling to retain my sanity.

OK, come on. Home run now.

50...150. That's the last lot.

We can start to clear? Yes, please.

Janet, Brian, go upstairs to start serving.

You've got all the baskets to go up and all the mint to go up.

JANET: I must have walked 500 miles today!

BRIAN: Right, here we go.

- We're waiting for the mint. - We can't start without the mint.

Where's the mint?! Run it up the stairs if necessary.

Just the mint. Bring it up.

Why can't we start without the mint? So a few people... We're not starting. We'll wait.

THEY ALL ARGUE

Just..shut up.

Here we go. We go.

One does a cage, one does a mint.

We've got to go. Go quicker. Let's get them out.

Janet and Brian's dessert is a tuile basket filled with passion fruit mousse

served with a raspberry coulis and topped with a sugar basket garnished with a mint leaf.

This was fancy. I came to Cambridge to be fancy.

Wow.

The dessert was awesome. It was absolutely delicious.

It was a crime to eat this, it's so pretty, but I can't stop myself.

The pudding was really good, especially the sugar on the top. I'd love to know how they did it.

Let's go.

The pudding was particularly delicious. I liked the spun sugar. That was lovely.

Next one.

Very close now.

Excellent, Brian. Thank you very much. Thank you, Janet. Excellent.

The final course was a splendid end to the meal. I'm very impressed with what the chefs have achieved tonight.

This has been a great end to the evening. It really impressed me. Really good.

What did they say? The best part of the evening.

The best bit of the meal? Really? It was the best one.

- The best part of the meal? Thank you very much. - Thank you.

Aww.

It's been a long day for our six celebs, a long day for you and I, but they haven't done a bad job.

450 plates of food,

a grand dining room and six celebs. Who thought that was possible?

It was epic. Back's pretty much shot, but actually I'm still smiling. I really enjoyed it.

An absolutely exhausting day! I've never worked like this in my life, you know.

I get on great with Janet. She's such a character. She's so funny and witty and dry, sometimes you crack up!

I don't really like food with all the squiggles on the plate. I'll never serve spun sugar.

'I think I might just be in the middle of a heart attack!'

That's what it feels like.

My feet hurt. I'm definitely tired. It's been a good evening. Ready to go to bed now.

This is the toughest test we've put in front of our celebs so far.

One more to go, then one leaves the competition.

That last challenge was really tough, but now it's your chance to demonstrate to us

what food really means to you. We believe great good to be about passion

and love. And what we want from you is a dish inspired by somebody that you love and you respect.

At the end of this, one of you is going home.

Ladies and gentlemen, your one dish, one hour and 15 minutes.

Let's cook.

We've got a pudding from you, Ade. Pears poached in red wine and cinnamon ice cream. Good.

It's for my grandson. I recently became a grandfather. You're a granddad?! Yes. Congratulations.

And he's the apple of everyone's eye in our family. He's seven months. He's called Freddy.

He's just started eating solids. He really likes pears. Good lad. I'm using that as inspiration.

This will have a slightly more adult flavour. It has a lot of spice in it.

Also I noticed a large bottle of red wine, most of it now in a pot. Not all of it!

Ade has got spiced, poached pears and he's got a cinnamon ice cream. Lovely.

They say a watched pot never boils, but this one is boiling.

I'm kind of hoping that today's is foolproof. I can't think what could really go wrong.

Can pears be different from one day to the next?

A pear could fall to bits. Hadn't thought of that. That's worrying now.

You've had 20 minutes!

Brian, tell me what you're actually cooking. It's venison in a harissa spice with vinegared carrot,

some broccoli and some chips. It's a kind of a fusion.

My real father was a French Algerian.

As he was killed in an air crash when I was a baby, I never knew him at all.

In my 20s, I asked my uncle, "What was my dad like?" and he said, "He was always in the kitchen

"and loved cooking." It's one of the strongest things I know about him.

The inspiration for Brian's dish is absolutely incredible.

It's really important that I do get through today. I'd love to,

as a kind of tribute to the father that I didn't know.

My wife is my inspiration for this dish because I don't feed myself. She's the one that keeps me alive.

I just have to say thanks for keeping me alive, really.

There's hardly anything on your bench, Shane. Is this right?

I'm making a soup, a winter warmer.

This is what keeps me going. Before music, a lot of people don't know I drove a lot of stock-cars,

got into Boyzone, travelled the world and went back to race cars. Most days I spend in a cold garage.

To keep me going through those days and nights, my wife makes me a soup with a load of bread.

I never eat. If she doesn't feed me, I die.

Shane's making bread with yeast in it. He's got to let it prove and bake it.

With an hour and 15 minutes, it's going to be touch and go.

I know I'm under pressure for time, massively.

You are halfway!

So what are you going to cook for us, Speech? Spicy grilled vegetables

with callaloo and coconut risotto, butternut squash emulsion and beetroot sauce.

And callaloo is what? It's used in Jamaica. It tastes like spinach.

This dish is inspired by whom? My best mate, Laura.

She's been a vegetarian for two years. This is the dish I made for her the last time she came round.

I had risotto and a tin of callaloo. So you invented it? Yeah. Great.

Speech's dish is something she's invented for a vegetarian friend. I love vegetarian food.

We've always had a bond through food.

Because of her, I've had to learn how to cook vegetarian food and try to make it tasty for me.

She's got callaloo, which is like spinach or Swiss chard risotto.

Then she's got a beetroot sauce, a butternut squash emulsion and then a stack of vegetables.

It could be amazing.

It could be quite...bizarre. I'm hoping for amazing.

You've got 25 minutes left.

I was asked to cook something for my favourite person, the person I respect and that inspires me - me!

No! You're kidding! No. I have chosen my favourite dish for me.

I'm cooking fish pie. Yay!

Yes! Yippee-dango! Fish pie!

I like fishing. I've made this pie with fish that I've caught. I caught a big pollock in Scotland.

It's what I eat when I've had a really hard day. I love it.

What's special about this fish pie is everything about it is the way I want it, to please me.

I haven't got to please anyone else. Inspired by me, for me. Hurrah!

Only Janet could come on here doing a dish for somebody she loves and respects and it's herself.

Only Janet.

Oh, no! It won't go in. Who designed these ovens?!

You have just 15 minutes left!

Les, what are you going to cook?

Rice pudding. Inspired by my mum and dad. When I was a kid growing up in Liverpool,

every week we had a rice pudding. My dad loved his rice pudding.

When I was about 20, I took him for a Chinese. I was trying to show him different foods.

He went, "You can't have rice with your dinner! It's a bloody pudding!"

That story's always stayed with me. So I'm doing vanilla rice pudding then a mojito shot.

Ah! So you're trying to get us drunk so we like the pudding, Les!

In my mum's day, she would have had an advocaat or a Babycham.

Now I think I would have got her onto the mojitos.

Les is doing rice pudding that his mum and dad used to love on a Sunday afternoon.

It's a dish from his heart, full of memories for him, but he knows it needs smartening up.

So he's adding a rhubarb compote,

crystallised mint leaves and a shortbread biscuit.

Good on Les. If he manages to pull off all those things, it'll be a cracking dish.

Rice pudding, I hope, is not too homely.

I'm trying to bring it into the 21st century. I've added mascarpone.

My dad wouldn't have known what mascarpone is.

"What's dat?" It's cheese, Dad. Soft cheese.

"You cannot put cheese in a rice pudding!"

Five minutes left, guys. Five minutes.

I'm really happy about what's going on. We've got good cooks cooking food they really believe in.

And it's wonderful.

You worrying about the ice cream not churning? I'm wondering if I have the right quantities in.

Don't say that now, Ade. I know.

They said they wanted it adult.

Just one minute!

That's it. It's over. It's all over.

Inspired by his parents,

Les has made vanilla rice pudding with mascarpone,

rhubarb compote, shortbread biscuits,

sugared mint leaves and a mojito shot.

Love the flavour of the rice pudding, cinnamon and vanilla.

Like the rhubarb against it. It's slightly sweet and a little sharp and you need that

with the thick pudding. Flavours I love. Very comforting, very cosy.

Thank you.

The combination of sugared mint, sour rhubarb and that creamy rice pudding with the nutmeg is lovely.

Love it, Les. Thank you. I'm absolutely delighted to get you guys to say what you said.

Well, I didn't get you to do it. It's fantastic. Sorry.

I'm rambling. I'm really thrilled, thank you very much!

'I feel really good.'

Yeah, I feel like I've got a good school report.

Inspired by his grandson Freddy, Ade has made a pear poached in red wine, cinnamon and cloves

with a red wine syrup and a cinnamon ice cream.

Lovely looking pear. Lovely shine on your syrup. Shame about your ice cream. I failed.

I'm bitterly disappointed. It's rubbish, isn't it, to promise ice cream and not give it?

Oh, nicely poached.

Your pear is poached beautifully all the way through. I like the thick finish of your sauce.

I like it a lot and I like the precise presentation. Thank you.

You get the slight bitterness that comes with red wine. That goes into warming spices.

That goes into what I can only describe as a cuddle of cinnamon.

I think we are an ice cream away from an absolute triumph.

I think if the ice cream had set I'd be a dead cert to go through. Really delicious, though!

It was fantastic. The best thing I've made.

Inspired by herself, Janet has made fish pie with petits pois a la Francaise

and samphire.

I think the depth of flavour inside that fish pie is brilliant.

I love the fact you made the stock. It's rich, opulent. Scattered with scallops, prawns and smoked fish.

I think that's a beautifully-made fish pie and I like these wonderful plates. Brilliant. Thank you.

Love the flavours. French peas I love. You've got that slight tang of onion.

And you've got sweet peas, loads of butter, seasoning good. You go through the soft mashed potato,

beautifully-cooked fish underneath, another big load of seasoning. Very more-ish.

The sort of home comfort food you are brilliant at. I still think your food needs smartened up. Sorry.

'I'm really pleased. Of course they couldn't stop themselves'

making a couple of snidey comments about the dribbles down the side, but they're clutching at straws.

Shane has made a sweet potato and butternut squash soup

with onion, garlic and chilli and a bread roll, which is inspired by his wife.

Shane, at this stage of the competition, it better be a bloomin' good bowl of soup and a roll!

Believe me, you'll like it.

That's impressive. Yeast bread. An hour and 15 minutes. Good on you.

Your soup's made really well, it's lovely and thick, the texture is wonderful and velvety.

Sweet, rich and spice of the chilli all the way through. I like it.

OK.

That could well be the best butternut squash soup I've ever tasted. Lovely.

It's sweet, it then becomes spicy, tangy. It ends in pepper, bitter. I think it's fabulous.

Your bread roll is light. Nice. Good job, mate.

I'm very, very pleased. Everything I set out to do, I completed. And it was spot-on.

A bang-on bit of soup and bread.

Brian has made venison with harissa on a bed of mashed potato

with Algerian carrots, game chips, broccoli and a red wine sauce

inspired by his French Algerian father.

Love the venison with that harissa. Love it. On a bed of creamy potato. I really like it.

I love those carrots. Sharp with vinegar and tasting of cumin.

Next time I visit Algeria, I'll ask for carrots. They're stunningly good.

I love the smokiness of your venison with your creamy mashed potato.

Technically, your cooking is brilliant. Your flavours, though, are too confused, too much.

You just need to stand back a bit. I complicate it. It's a simple dish. I made some bad decisions.

I thought their comments were more than fair. I was expecting a complete drubbing.

I really need to think about simplifying things.

Speech has made spicy chargrilled vegetables

with a callaloo and coconut risotto,

a butternut squash emulsion and a beetroot and chilli sauce

which is inspired by her vegetarian best friend Laura.

Parts of this are really tasty. I like the sour, sharp saltiness of that callaloo rice,

but to me it seems like a side dish for something else and not that vegetable stack.

They are miles apart. I like the butternut squash sauce.

I really like your beetroot sauce, which is really spicy and sweet,

but I don't see how it all comes together as a dish. OK.

Really like the aubergine and pepper stack with lots of olive oil and courgettes in there. It's juicy.

Love those little sauces. There's nowhere near enough of them.

A real mixed bag.

I'm going to stand by the dish. I think I cook like I make music.

I don't really know where I'm going to go, but I follow the feeling.

Food and music are very similar the way I do it.

Really nice seeing you cooking dishes inspired by loved ones.

It was lovely. And at times emotional.

One of you will be leaving the competition. We've got to decide who.

Thank you very much indeed. Off you go.

Today was about emotion, about love and about food with feeling.

My favourite dish today I think it was Shane's.

The plate looked lovely, the bread was light and the soup delicious.

That was my favourite. Brilliant job. My favourite dish today? It'll surprise you.

Les Dennis. Les Dennis.

Rhubarb and rice pudding! Good dish. So, so impressed with Les.

He is fighting tooth and claw to stay in this competition

and he is producing some good food.

Ade, he had a perfectly poached pear and a really nice spiced syrup.

With ice cream, it would have been absolutely outstanding.

Actually, a very good dish. I ate the whole lot. For me to eat a whole pudding, it's got to be good.

Janet made a very nice fish pie. Really richly flavoured.

Just make it a bit more sexy. A little bit of a wipe around your bowl, Janet!

I don't think I'll be going home, but it's not a nice feeling. I've been sacked from loads of stuff

and made loads of programmes that nobody remembers. It's only cooking!

You're not inventing a vaccine for polio!

I wondered how Speech was going to get all of those different vegetables onto one plate.

I liked the Mediterranean vegetable stack, I liked the little sauces, but they were just dots.

Real up and down from Speech today.

I think we had three different ideas on one plate. It was weird.

If I hear I'm out, I might very well storm off. I'm a bit of a brat.

My mum would not be proud of that.

Brian... Oh... I tell you what, for me the great thing about that dish was that venison - big and gutsy

and full of flavour. Brian has got some nice ideas, but he doesn't know when to stop.

He keeps chucking things at it.

Whether I've done enough to get through to the next round, this is the closest I've thought,

"I could be on my way out. Perhaps." I hope I've done enough.

We know how good these cooks are. I've got to say,

certain cooks have edged their way and they stay without question.

One will be leaving the competition. OK, who's it going to be?

# All I need's a little time

# To get behind this sun and cast my weight

# All I need's a peace of this mind... #

Unfortunately, one of you is leaving the competition.

The person leaving us...

..is Speech.

Thank you, Speech. Thank you so much. Oh, well.

I'm feeling gutted that I'm leaving MasterChef.

I am going home. I'm out of the game.

Of course I'm disappointed, but it's been a great experience.

And then there were five.

Well done.

Well, you and me!

Mightily relieved. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd get this far.

I'm really pleased. I don't look happy, but that's the way I am.

The more I go on, the more I am getting confident, so I'm really absolutely thrilled.

It's a shock, really.

I was getting my face ready for the magnanimous loser.

Today, without a shadow of a doubt, it was a great day, a perfect day.

I'm still here, man, and I'm fighting fit, so...

Tomorrow, the final five come face-to-face with the harshest of critics.

This bit of the competition gets brutal.

I've been persuaded to put the risotto in a ring! I know! Ooh!

What?!

You're not going to try to balance that?

I think this is just a couple of notches down from brilliant.

Sweet potato fondant - an abomination.

If they don't perform, they are out!

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